In Canada, unlike here in the U.S., raw milk sales are illegal. That hasn’t stopped Canadian raw dairy farmer and activist Michael Schmidt from providing the nourishing, all-natural food to those who want it. He set up the equivalent of a herd-share arrangement where those wanted to could purchase a share of a dairy herd. What’s so magical about that? Well, if you are a partial owner of the herd, then you are theoretically entitled to a share of the milk that herd produces. This way raw milk consumers are consuming the milk from cows they own.
Those Pesky Amish Criminals
So what brought armed members from three separate government agencies to raid the Pennsylvania farm of Amish farmer Dan Allgyer in the pre-dawn last month? What had them doing a year-long undercover investigative operation to gather incriminating evidence? Is he a subversive supplier of arms or drugs to the seedy criminal underbelly of Washington D.C.? Nah. He’s just a farmer selling his milk. Selling it in it’s — GASP! — raw, unpasteurized form.
Maine Town Declares Food Sovereignty
Sedgwick, Maine has done what no other town in the United States has done. The town unanimously passed an ordinance giving its citizens the right “to produce, process, sell, purchase, and consume local foods of their choosing.” This includes raw milk, locally slaughtered meats, and just about anything else you can imagine. It’s also a decided bucking of state and federal laws.